| Summary: | Nel Noddings in her book The Challenge to Care (1992) presents a philosophy
based on an ethic of care and a theory for educational practice that is at once intriguing
and satisfyingly resonant. While Noddings describes her notion of caring in terms of
practice it is clear that Noddings is grounding this in a philosophical framework rather
than in the real and current life of schools.
The problem I have attempted to address is whether or not caring, however logical
it may appear in my mind, is a reasonable ethic to consciously incorporate into the art of
educating children. Specifically I looked at the practice of the elementary school vice-principal
by reflecting on my own experience and my attempts to live arid model caring
as an important way of being with children and adults who work and learn in schools. I
came to this investigation from a point of dissatisfaction with many of the accepted ways
of acting within the practice of educational administration.
This work is written in the style of story. Noddings' ideas have been taken and
situated within the context of my experience and analyzed through narrative. Relevant
research has been brought to bear to help support or critically discuss concepts. Chapter 1
discusses some of the problems I saw as inherent within the world of educational
administration and of my search for alternative action. Chapter 2 attempts to
conceptualize caring in a manner that will make it more comprehensible to educational
practitioners. Chapter 3 looks at caring in practice, specifically discussing Noddings'
notion of moral education. How caring fits into the larger discussion of moral education
is discussed in Chapter 4 with caring being placed in relief to other ethical approaches as
they relate to education. The final chapter discusses the implications for educational
leaders who would like to work towards a more caring approach to the education of
children.
It is my hope that educators who read this story will be tempted to disrupt their
practice long enough to think about the moral issues inherent in the roles of teachers and
principal teachers. The point I have tried to make is that these moral issues are not purely
philosophical in nature but have significant impact on the lives and moral development of
real children in our schools. === Education, Faculty of === Educational Studies (EDST), Department of === Graduate
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